Report pours water on rumors of September 9th iTunes 8 debut

Rumors that Apple will announce next week version 8.0 of its iTunes media cataloging software with a new music recommendation engine may be premature, according to a new report.

Earlier this week, outspoken Digg founder Kevin Rose built on his predictions for Apple's special media event next Tuesday by publishing a purported feature list for iTunes 8.0.

Among the claims where that the media software would include a new recommendation Genius, "which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together." The supposed feature was also reported to include a Genius sidebar, "which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have."

In addition, iTunes 8 would allow browsing of "artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (2nd generation), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer."

While Rose's earlier predictions of a slim form-factor iPod nano appear as if they will inevitably pan out, ArsTechnica is shedding doubt on the timing of his iTunes 8 rumors. The tech news site, which sports a sturdy track record (1, 2, 3, 4) of uncapping future iTunes-related announcements, says it wouldn't wager on an iTunes 8 release next Tuesday.

"The one thing we aren't betting on is seeing iTunes 8 introduced on September 9," the report says. "Call it a hunch, or call it something else, but we don't plan on waking up Software Update just yet."

Ars, however, made no claims as to whether or not the feature set proposed by Rose would eventually turn up an a version of iTunes labeled 8.0. Separately, the below photo has been making the rounds this week, depicting an iPod nano matching Rose's description.